Carson Ting, freelance art director, illustrator and photographer, looks to a new project he’s working on in Vancouver, B.C., March 10, 2014.Arlen Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

This poster design was for Microsoft to help promote IE10 to developers around the world. It was used to communicate how highly mobile friendly IE10 is with various mobile devices.Carson Ting

This was an illustration project for Okamoto condoms in Japan. This 3D billboard was made up of several diecut panels, creating a sense of depth within this chaotic illustration piece.Edophia Photography

We were approached by TAXI Vancouver (a national advertising agency in Canada owned by WPP) last year to work on this great cause for an Anti-Bullying campaign. The illustration we did were used on Tshirts, billboards and all sorts of advertising materials to help promote Pink Shirt day.

This was a commissioned mural project for a digital agency in Yaletown called Intergalactic.

We worked with DDB Canada and The Canadian Tourism Commission to create this graphic icon for Canada Day last year. This icon was so well received that we had people telling us that they’re going to have it tattooed on their bodies. This giant mural is now a permanent installation on the side of the Canada Place building in downtown Vancouver.CARSON TING

This image was created for our web blog post when we were in New York last year. We were invited by Kidrobot for an artist signing event in SOHO. The featured vinyl toy is part of Kidrobot’s 2013 Dunny collection. Our custom Dunny (named Dunny Ting) is also part of the Design Exchange’s current exhibition in Toronto called ‘This Is Not A Toy’ curated by Pharrell Williams.

A custom in-store design display project for adidas Originals Shanghai. This was the flagship store by the IFC building in Shanghai. The project was to help promote their winter collection. It was a custom top-to-bottom design project which included illustration, design and production.Edophia Photography

This mural was commissioned by Hootsuite for their new office in Mount Pleasant. We’re very proud of the new mural as it sits in the front lobby of the company. This mural was a collaboration with Mike Nowland.

Carson Ting, freelance art director, illustrator and photographer, looks to a new project he’s working on in Vancouver, B.C., March 10, 2014.Arlen Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

A custom in-store design display project for adidas Originals Shanghai. This was the flagship store by the IFC building in Shanghai. The project was to help promote their winter collection. It was a custom top-to-bottom design project which included illustration, design and production.Edophia Photography

Carson Ting, freelance art director, illustrator and photographer, looks to a new project he’s working on in Vancouver, B.C., March 10, 2014.Arlen Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

A custom in-store design display project for adidas Originals Shanghai. This was the flagship store by the IFC building in Shanghai. The project was to help promote their winter collection. It was a custom top-to-bottom design project which included illustration, design and production.Edophia Photography

Illustrator and creative director Carson Ting was born in Toronto, trained in Toronto, made a name for himself in Toronto — but when it came to striking out on his own, the award-winning easterner figured his best bet was Vancouver.

Ting is listed among the top 200 illustrators in the world by Vienna-based Lürzer’s Archive magazine and been named one of Canada’s top five most creative people by Marketing Magazine. He’s gained a dozen years’ experience with the likes of Canadian advertising agencies Rethink and Blast Radius.

In two years, Ting and wife Denise Cheung’s Chairman Ting Industries has picked up jobs with The Cartoon Network, Microsoft, Kidrobot and the Canadian Tourism Commission.

The Sun spoke to Ting about building a creative business in Vancouver.

Q: You say there are more opportunities in Vancouver than Toronto. Surely, you’re joking.

A: When I got my one-way ticket out here, the ticket attendant at the check-in counter said: “It’s usually the other way around.”

Obviously, it pays really well (back east), but creatively, the opportunities are not as abundant because when there’s more money involved, there’s more people involved and that dilutes the final product. On top of that, from a creative professional’s perspective, whenever you test a product before you go to market, it always dilutes the thing.

Vancouver is often labelled as a sleepy city. I find quite the contrary. Vancouver is very entrepreneurial, which makes it very exciting. You get this really amazing sense of energy.

For instance, we did work for Predator Helmets, a local company run by two guys. They design these really unique urban bicycle helmets that guys in suits won’t be embarrassed about. Nike is on the west coast in Oregon.

There’s Lululemon and big tech start-ups like HootSuite. Last year I got a call from Facebook. They set up a shop in Coal Harbour.

Q: What are some of your favourite projects?

A: When we worked on Science World, they obviously didn’t have a huge budget and they weren’t able to test before going to market. We did a billboard made entirely out of gold. We were presenting the fact that two ounces of gold can cover this billboard. We wrapped the entire billboard with gold and hired a security guard to stand in front of it.

We just signed on with NFB (National Film Board) on a project to educate the general population about the Canadian constitution. I’ve always loved the NFB. It’ll be an interactive, experiential website. I will be producing the artwork. The coding and technical development will be a third party.

Q: So how do you find these fun, creative jobs?

A: Fifty per cent of my work comes from online and 50 per cent word of mouth. I spend 25 per cent of my time building my online social presence. Whatever I do, I always document everything, not just documenting one piece, but talking about the process.

Sometimes I put a video together. Advertising: it’s the art of selling. Once a week I try to have coffee with people.

The Cartoon Network project came through my Instagram account.

Kidrobot was online. I was doing a mural for Rethink in Toronto. I posted a time-lapse video of myself painting the wall, I tweeted about it, put it on Facebook and somehow one of the guys at Kidrobot, it caught their attention. They posted the mural on their blog and asked if I wanted to work on one of their vinyl toys. There’s a huge, almost cultlike following for these toys.

Actively pushing your work out there is a must. I got work for BC Business magazine, an editorial illustration piece, through a very small solo art show I did at the Walrus store on Cambie. One of the art directors saw the promotion for the show and sure enough, I got the project a month later.

Q: But does it pay?

A: After two years full-time, we’ve exceeded what I would be making full-time as a senior art director at an agency by about 20 per cent.

Advertising was my life for the last 13/14 years. Almost all our ideas have to be sketched out to show the concept. I started developing this style that really made me happy and I do it really quick too because it’s part of the game. Clients love that quickness and how silly and fun it looks, so it’s very marketable.

Passion projects are the way to get ahead. It’s pure creative freedom and allows you to do the best work possible. Fun projects are the investment into your career.

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